Labour Party's last-ditch effort: Constitutional Court's election postponement Drama

• Many South Africans were confused about why the Constitutional Court was hearing an application to postpone the General Election
• The Labour Party applied after it reportedly failed to submit its candidate list due to a glitch in the IEC’s portal
• Netizens were in agreement that the Apex Court should allow the 29 May 2024 polls to go ahead as scheduled

Zingisa Chirwa is an experienced Briefly News journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, who has covered politics and current affairs on the radio for over 15 years.

South Africans call for the 29 May 2024 General Election to go as planned. Images: Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images and Stock Image Source: Getty Images

Many South Africans were astounded by the Labour Party’s application to the Constitutional Court to postpone the 29 May General Election.

Citizens who followed proceedings on Newzroom Afrika questioned why the ConCourt was considering the submission three weeks before the country’s Election.

The Labour Party filed its application to the Constitutional Court after the Electoral Court dismissed its case on 15 April 2024.

Labour Party blames IEC portal for failure to submit

According to EWN, the organisation failed to meet the candidate submission deadline due to technical issues on the IEC’s portal. The party’s application was heard on 8 May 2024, along with Ace Magashule’s African Congress for Transformation and the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats.

The IEC countered the application and explained that a postponement would cost more than half a billion rand.

South Africans eager to head to the polls

Despite different political affiliations, many netizens agreed that the Election had to go ahead as scheduled.

@Mo_Magoda asked:

“Why must we postpone the Elections now? We are ready to vote out the ANC.”

@ZizweMabece added:

“What a waste of time and energy. We are not postponing anything!”

@bheki5536530761 wondered:

“If they don’t fear MK, why are they postponing the elections ♂️♂️♂️”

@stallionheat pointed out:

“This will never happen in Russia or China.”

@VincenttPanacio commented:

“They thought we playing when we said 2024 is our 1994 ”

IEC Responds to Jabulani Khumalo’s call to remove Jacob Zuma

Briefly News reported that the IEC didn’t involve itself in the internal affairs of political parties.

The commission was responding to a letter written by MK Party co-founder, calling for the removal of Jacob Zuma as party leader.

Jabulani Khumalo’s letter to the IEC came a week after he and other party members were expelled.